Look N' Shop Magazine February 2015 Issue 23 | Page 18

look n’ shop magazine page 18

Itchy Face and Jewellery Allergies

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Many people experience allergy caused by original or artificial jewellery and this is known as either nickel dermatitis, contact
dermatitis or nickel allergy.

ssentially it is a ‘contact allergy’ meaning that it occurs
on contact with something rather than having to eat it
or breath it in, and can develop in anyone at any age.
The interesting thing is that every single person actually
reacts in some way to nickel, though the amount to which this
occurs simply varies according to the individual’s tolerance dictated by their unique body chemistry.
Signs of jewellery allergy might be bleeding, itchiness, redness and sorenesswhich will be local to the jewellery. If you
experience an itchy face, neck or ears after wearing jewellery
then this is one possible sign, particularly if there’s no obvious
cause such as a rash. Alternatively this might take the form of a
blueish-black patch around the ring finger, face or ears.
In the cases of piercings you might see swelling and pus. This is
particularly bad for those with an allergy to jewellery as piercing artists will use a thin piece of gold often in order to make
the piercing. This then contacts with the open wound resulting
in a longer lasting and more itchy reaction. Thus if you experience an itchy face or ears after a piercing – even if you are not
wearing any jewellery in it – then this can cause such a reaction.

You should be able to identify the cause of the irritation as
the jewellery or piercing due to the location and duration of
the problem, you will find it reoccurs wherever you wear certain jewellery (however in some cases the itch might not be
precisely local to the jewellery – for example you might get an
itchy face from a necklace). You might have to carry out tests
by seeing whether you can induce the reaction with jewellery
or nickel.
Most pieces of jewellery include nickel. The reason for this is
that pure gold and silver are too soft in order to mount. Jewellers then include other metals in the mixture which usually
involve nickel but can also be zinc or copper.
In some cases however the individual will still be allergic
to the gold or silver itself, as these too are reactive metals,
though this is less common. Allergies can also be exacerbated by perspiration. Here if the jewellery is on for a long period
of time the skin beneath it will start to sweat and when this
comes into contact with the metal it will dissolve the nickel
and creates nickel salts which affect the skin. Another unrelated cause for allergy is that soap or water get caught underneath a ring for example which dries out the skin leading to
ecsthma or cracking skin.